I have more pots of spent soil. The pH is very low 5.5, high in phosphorus and low in everything else. It makes it hard to recycle and when I use it for fill, I get an abundance of weeds.
So, if you have container soil, how do you recycle it?
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applestar
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I’m using the beneficial microbes method to neutralize malicious fungal and disease organisms and re-activate and invigorate the organic metabolic process. I also add earthworms since they will also digest and convert any remaining plant matter, etc. into plant-available nutrients and probiotics.
I’m too cheap to buy commercially available selected beneficial microbes, so I just use cultured rice washing water (rice bran culture), natto powder (I can’t eat natto and not body else here does, so no point in buying live culture), and any yogurt, lacto-ferment, and yeast material I have on hand, bokashi, compost, cultured “green juice” from weeds, etc.
I add calcium with eggshells, lime, dolomitic lime, or gypsum etc. as matter of course, add other nutrients so they are all more of less represented, … and then generally hope for the best when using for mature container plants.
Depending on the plant, I might add gravel, pumice gravel, aged bark chip mulch, or perlite/vermiculite if I have plenty at the time and convenient.
I usually reserve fresh/new potting mix for seed starting/propagating and first uppot seedlings.
…my biggest issue when reusing large quantity of old potting mix is ants and pill/sow bugs, millipedes, etc. that often move in. One way this problem has been rectified is when I left refilled bags in the patio hoophouse over the summer and winter, elevated away from the ground. I think the summer period might have killed the denizens and beneficial microbes but may have solarized the mix as well and killed off many weed seeds (except some persistent cold stratified tree and weed seeds that did sprout later). I did use the result for uppotting seedlings.
I’m too cheap to buy commercially available selected beneficial microbes, so I just use cultured rice washing water (rice bran culture), natto powder (I can’t eat natto and not body else here does, so no point in buying live culture), and any yogurt, lacto-ferment, and yeast material I have on hand, bokashi, compost, cultured “green juice” from weeds, etc.
I add calcium with eggshells, lime, dolomitic lime, or gypsum etc. as matter of course, add other nutrients so they are all more of less represented, … and then generally hope for the best when using for mature container plants.
Depending on the plant, I might add gravel, pumice gravel, aged bark chip mulch, or perlite/vermiculite if I have plenty at the time and convenient.
I usually reserve fresh/new potting mix for seed starting/propagating and first uppot seedlings.
…my biggest issue when reusing large quantity of old potting mix is ants and pill/sow bugs, millipedes, etc. that often move in. One way this problem has been rectified is when I left refilled bags in the patio hoophouse over the summer and winter, elevated away from the ground. I think the summer period might have killed the denizens and beneficial microbes but may have solarized the mix as well and killed off many weed seeds (except some persistent cold stratified tree and weed seeds that did sprout later). I did use the result for uppotting seedlings.
I add vermicast to the potting mix to boost bioactivity. I do have some earthworms in pots, but not in every pot. There is plenty of perlite in the mix. I could add compost although I would have to find an alkaline compost and it will make the phosphorus much worse. I do add lime, kmag, and nitrogen to the reused mixes now. They just don't last very long. I can work on making bokashi. I never thought of using natto as an inoculant. It is easy enough to find here. I'll try adding more bioactivity. I can only use about 1/3 of the old mix and mix it with new mix. I still end up with more soil than I can use. I have some soil, I can only dump because of nematodes and ground mealybugs. I don't actually have pillbugs. I do have ants but I put out ant bait so I don't have a big problem with them. I do have problems with weeds in the reused soil. it is why I have more weeds in the grass now, because I was spreading the extral soil on the grass.
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applestar
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When adding for macro and micro nutrients, look for push towards alkalinizing?
• Potassium bicarbonate is relatively benign but is used in fungicidal sprays
• Borax can be used in tiny amounts but be careful — I once had an earthworm come out in a hurry and thrash around
… I believe Calcium Nitrate also raises pH but not positive…
… Wood ash could be another way if you have opportunities to burn wood. I save extra ash on rare occasions when I use the rocket stove, or fire pit or charcoal grill (only genuine hardwood charcoal, not petroleum soaked brikets), but I don’t very often.
• Potassium bicarbonate is relatively benign but is used in fungicidal sprays
• Borax can be used in tiny amounts but be careful — I once had an earthworm come out in a hurry and thrash around
… I believe Calcium Nitrate also raises pH but not positive…
… Wood ash could be another way if you have opportunities to burn wood. I save extra ash on rare occasions when I use the rocket stove, or fire pit or charcoal grill (only genuine hardwood charcoal, not petroleum soaked brikets), but I don’t very often.
In our raised beds and containers new potting soil is added to the old and thoroughly mixed. Most of the time 12-12-12 fertilizer is added and mixed in as well. If there were any disease problems the old potting mix is dumped into the compost pile and allowed to cook. Disease contamination has not been a problem so far and the bugs seem to be of the beneficial kind. Sounds like I need to be more careful in the future.
I did get calcium nitrate, I could not get potassium bicarb, and that is why I have kmag. I would have to find some wood to burn to get wood ashes. Most people don't have fireplaces here. The house needs to cool, not heat up. I don't know if charcoal ash would be good? Most of the charcoal I have are briquettes. I have to see if I can find Molokai charcoal. I don't think there is any fire starter added to it. One store does sell chords of wood, but I would have to make them smaller or it would take too long to burn in my smokey joe. I had my soil tested, the ph is around 5.5 and the phosphorus is over 400. I can't add any more phosphorus. I have been adding dolomite lime and I have added phos free fertilizer.
I was using the old soil for fill, but I have now got lettuce and weeds growing in the grass. So, I just had to round up a bunch of nutsedge, bermuda grass, spurge, and clover. I have tried to hot water sterilize the soil, but it takes a lot of hot water and I can't over tax my stove or microwave heating it. It is expensive to fix it when they break. Composting would be an option, but I don't have a compost pile and it isn't recommended because of the problem with coconut rhinoceros beetles.
I am using sulfate of ammonia. I have to see if I can find urea. Amazon won't send it. I have been bagging the soil and letting it sit. The bags are piling up.
I have some soil with nematodes, ground mealy bugs, and TYLCV, that I can only dump. TYLCV is not supposed to be transmitted by soil, but they also said it could not be seed transmitted either and it turns out that is how it got here.
I'll try to get some wood ash, and increase the bioactivity. I have more vermicast and that is the easiest source for me to get. I can try to make bokashi, It has been awhile since I did that. Thanks for all the advice.
I was using the old soil for fill, but I have now got lettuce and weeds growing in the grass. So, I just had to round up a bunch of nutsedge, bermuda grass, spurge, and clover. I have tried to hot water sterilize the soil, but it takes a lot of hot water and I can't over tax my stove or microwave heating it. It is expensive to fix it when they break. Composting would be an option, but I don't have a compost pile and it isn't recommended because of the problem with coconut rhinoceros beetles.
I am using sulfate of ammonia. I have to see if I can find urea. Amazon won't send it. I have been bagging the soil and letting it sit. The bags are piling up.
I have some soil with nematodes, ground mealy bugs, and TYLCV, that I can only dump. TYLCV is not supposed to be transmitted by soil, but they also said it could not be seed transmitted either and it turns out that is how it got here.
I'll try to get some wood ash, and increase the bioactivity. I have more vermicast and that is the easiest source for me to get. I can try to make bokashi, It has been awhile since I did that. Thanks for all the advice.
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applestar
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- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Good luck! Bokashi is pretty easy once you get into it. I started out with one of those (kitchen) bokashi bucket kits way back when, but have been experimenting in so many ways. Liquid cultures are pretty handy, too. (I’m bad at this because I’m not disciplined — have so many jugs of experiments brewing without sticking to scheduled brew time and decanting …)
Regardless of methods, ones that are still “good” smell like lacto-fermented pickles or some sort of a “brew” or yeast, mushrooms, etc. — “good” smell.
I end up using the nasties too, but way diluted and then poured off as soil drench under shrubs or on pathways or over the compost pile.
…” briquettes “ — Ah Hah! I KNEW I spelled that wrong somehow but was too lazy to look it up and fix it
Regardless of methods, ones that are still “good” smell like lacto-fermented pickles or some sort of a “brew” or yeast, mushrooms, etc. — “good” smell.
I end up using the nasties too, but way diluted and then poured off as soil drench under shrubs or on pathways or over the compost pile.
…” briquettes “ — Ah Hah! I KNEW I spelled that wrong somehow but was too lazy to look it up and fix it